The Celtic Cross is a drawing composed of eight symbols of the early Christian Church. They include the Borromean Rings, the All Seeing Eye, the Jerusalem Cross, the Chi Rho, the Dove, the Fish, Alpha and Omega and the Rose. Celtic designs are characterized by interlocking lines such as the Borromean Rings. The three interlocking circles are representative of the Christian Trinity. The word trinity comes from the Latin noun trintas ​meaning Three are One. The Trinity represents the belief that God is One Being made up of three distinct persons who exist in co-equal, co-eternal communion as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The second symbol is the All Seeing Eye. In reality, this is a symbol used in many different cultures ranging from the ancient Egyptian to the United States as seen on the back of the one dollar bill. During the Medieval and Renaissance periods, the Eye within the triangular frame represented the Trinity and the Eye itself, could be considered a symbol of God's omniscience. The Eye is found in some English and Greek churches and is often surrounded by rays of light or glory. It is often interpreted as representing the Eye of God watching over humankind. Next is the Jerusalem Cross which is also called the "Crusaders Cross" as it was often emblazoned on the shields of the crusading knights. It is made up of five crosses and symbolizes in one interpretation, the five wounds of Christ and in another interpretation the four smaller represent the Four Gospels and Christ himself is represented by the large cross. The Chi Rho is one of the earliest symbols of the cross used by Christians. It is formed by superimposing the first two letters of the word Christ in Greek. The Chi Rho symbolizes the crucifixion of Jesus as well as symbolizing his status as the Christ (Greek for Messiah). It was the Roman emperor Constantine who first used the Chi Rho - according to the histories, in 312 CE on the eve of the battle of Milvian Bridge, Constantine had a vision in which he saw the Chi Rho along with the Greek words TOUTO NIKA which means "in this sign thou shalt conquer". God then instructed him to mark his men's shields with the Chi Rho. Constantine would go on to win the day and following his victory, he became the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity and more importantly, legalized Christianity throughout the empire which ended the brutal persecution of Christians. The Dove is the symbol of the Holy Spirit and also symbolized the release of the soul in death. In the story of Noah, the Dove was a harbinger of hope and according to Mathew, during the baptism of Jesus the Holy Spirit descended like a Dove and came to rest on Jesus. Finally, the Dove signifies the Christian soul. Among the symbols used by the early Christians, the Fish was one of the most important. It's popularity was due principally to the famous acrostic consisting of the initial letters of the five Greek letters forming the word FISH - which briefly but clearly described the character of Christ (Jesus - Christ - Son of God - Savior). In the book of Revelation, Jesus says of himself, "I am Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End". Alpha is the first letter in the Greek alphabet and Omega is the last one. Putting them together represented the eternity of Christ as the Son of God. And finally, the Rose represented the Holy Faith, also Our Lady, martyrdom, and penance. When five roses were grouped together, they symbolized the five wounds of Christ. And this ends our brief tour of Christian religious history, I find the symbols and their stories fascinating as well as fun to draw. I hope you enjoy looking at the Celtic Cross as much as I enjoyed drawing it.

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